Month: April 2015

Marathon des Sables was more than just a race. It was incredible. There is so much I could tell you about it, but here is an overview!

During a six hour coach ride from Ouarzazate airport in Morocco to the start point of the race we were presented with ‘the roadbook’. The coach avidly scanned the book, I think many to see how long the longest day in the history of the race would actually be (92km)!

Eventually we pulled off the road, into the darkness……with head torches on we made for the bivouac to find our home for the week. Tent 115 ‘Yorkshire tent’ turned out to be a very happy place. The eight of us shared highs and lows and made fantastic memories – some painful – together.

So, these are the distances which we tackled and a few of the high and low points of each day.

I was once told that the word goat can be broken down to go-at. This word was traditionally used to describe a common male behavioural characteristic. Men are compelled by circumstance, biology and psychology to be out in the world having a go-at something.

With that in mind, yesterday afternoon this goat decided to brave the wind and rain and have a go-at running some trails in the You Yangs (approx. 60km southwest of Melbourne). During a break in the rain as I climbed towards the ‘Saddle’ on the backside of Flinders Peak, my attention was caught by a noise in the undergrowth a few metres to my right.

It was a first for me….wild goats! A group of five were making their way through the scrub. Three of them paused atop some rocks and looked back my way, resulting in this photo opportunity:

Added all together we were six happy goats. You never know who you’re going to bump into when exploring some trails.

An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life… ”A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. ”It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. ”One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. ”This same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked, “Which wolf will win Grandfather?” The old chief simply replied, ”The one you feed.”